


And Now Is Tomorrow

by leechdealer69



Category: Homestuck
Genre: (again), ?? i guess?, Alternate Universe - No Sgrub Session, Fluff, I mean it's Solkat., M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, POV Second Person, Philosophical Discussions, Present Tense, Revolution, of sorts, rated for language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:48:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24986335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leechdealer69/pseuds/leechdealer69
Summary: You find him again alone, after all is said and done and the natural order—artificial, your pan tells you, naturalized through fear and ignorance—has been torn from its foundations. After everything has collapsed and risen; you find him after the victory.
Relationships: Sollux Captor/Karkat Vantas
Comments: 8
Kudos: 25





	And Now Is Tomorrow

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Cantata de puentes amarillos" by Spinetta.

You find him again alone, after all is said and done and the natural order—artificial, your pan tells you, naturalized through fear and ignorance—has been torn from its foundations. After everything has collapsed and risen; you find him after the victory.

He's not doing anything more than taking in the scenery. The remains of imperial ships are scattered on the ground; machinery and shattered weapons and the broken chains of an entire civilization. He doesn't turn when you come to stand next to him, joining him in his contemplation. But Karkat has never been had any affinity for quietness, at least not when someone is there to listen, and sometimes when there isn't. That was part of why all of this was possible, after all. His refusal to shut up and die. So when he speaks, the fact that he breaks the silence only shocks you because it lasted more than two seconds.

"Why did you do this?" he asks.

"What do you think?" you ask back, looking around at the ruins that surround you.

"I know why you think it was the right thing to do, shitsponge." The sweeps and experiences you have shared haven't made him any less predisposed to being a little bitch. That's something you're thankful for, at least when you're not actively cursing this very fact. "I mean why... Why did you do it if you didn't think we'd win? Why bother with a revolution that according to you was doomed before it started?"

You chuckle dryly. "KK, I was doomed before I was hatched. With a lot of luck, I'd be culled instead of turned into a living battery. What was... Was there anything else I could do?"

He looks disappointed, in a way. "So that's all? All this journey because you were going to have a horrible fate either way? You could've delayed it."

"Great, because that would've been a great comfort."

You're not being entirely truthful; if you'd been throwing your life away you could have just let yourself starve. Before tonight, you'd never truly thought that you could be doing anything else. Even if you didn't believe this day would come (but you'd hoped, you'd hoped with an intensity that made your chest hurt sometimes; so desperately that you wished you could stop hoping and embrace your collective doom with your head held high), you couldn't think of a better place to be than fighting for your friends, _with_ your friends.

He seems to be pondering his next words. He's grown into someone more thoughtful, after negotiating and preaching and starting a fucking revolution. Still, you feel as though he's the very same person you first spoke to all those sweeps ago. Some of his edges have softened, others have sharpened; he's stabilized, but he's still the same Karkat Vantas you've loved with all your might for longer than you can remember.

"At first, before the tides turned," he says at last, "I thought I was just delaying the inevitable too. Like at some point I'd eventually find a problem I couldn't fight or argue with or run away from and then it'd be as if the day I was regurgitated into this world had never happened."

"If you wanna get technical," you say, because you've never been a philosopher but you've had enough time to think about it, "all everyone ever does is delay the inevitable."

"Except the Empress, may her rotting corpse feed the ugliest worms ever hatched into eternity."

"But she's dead. We're standing at the crime scene." That's not the exact term you want to use, not really, but you know your point will be understood. You've never written a single speech in your life and you're sure as hell not going to start now.

"It wasn't inevitable for her." You don't know if it's humility, cynism, or plain realism that makes him say that, but he's right. Or perhaps he's saying it out of a strange sense of wonder, like he's peering over the edge of the chasm he could've fallen into and the reality of what could have been is only hitting him now that it's over. Was there ever any chance of falling if you didn't? And if you died, did it matter whether it had been written or not?

You sigh. "Honestly, at this point, who fucking knows what's inevitable? I thought the end of your precious movement was inevitable once and here we are."

He frowns. "Our movement. You were a part of it since the beginning, idiot."

"You're literally the leader."

"I'm expressing my appreciation for you, ungrateful sack of shit. The least you could do is say 'wow, fuck, thank you' and shut up before I regret it."

You elbow him hard on the ribs, so hard he stumbles back a little, but you know what he's saying and once he settles back next to you you slip your hand in his. After a moment of silence, he speaks again.

"Things aren't just inevitable or not."

"You can't be half inevitable."

"Not what I mean. What if nothing is written until we write it ourselves?"

You shake your head. "That's a cute thought, but I hear the voices of the doomed. It always happens. That's a thing, being doomed, did you know that?" Of course he does; he's close to you. "The future is ahead whether we want it or not. It's like it already happened."

"That's the fucking bleakest thing you've said in... a perigee, at least. I don't want to live in a world like that, Sollux. I won't." There's an edge of desperation in his voice, despite the freshness of your triumph, and it's almost as if he's begging you to tell him he's wrong.

"I didn't get it at first," you say, "but TZ and I talked a bit. She's savvy about this stuff. That everything is written doesn't mean you can't choose."

You could tell her what she told you, what you worked out yourself. That there is a fixed number of paths doesn't mean you can't choose which one to take. And some roads are wide, and no one and nothing can control which steps you take when you cross them. Tonight, this victory, even if the whims of fate wanted it, was the result of every drop of sweat, tears, and sometimes blood you had to spill to get to this point. The possibility of failure, that once haunted you, now makes everything matter. Instead of explaining that, which is more complex than you can manage being this exhausted, you resort to comfort. The troll next to you is your moirail, most of the time, after all.

"Fuck fate," you tell him. He turns to look at you, surprised. For the first time in a long time, euphoria is shining in your eyes. "So what if it was meant to happen? Keep thinking like that and you'll go crazy. The movement doesn't need you crazy. You love your shitty novels; do you control what happens in them?"

He nods slowly. "You're right. Fuck everything." Suddenly, a grin splits his face in two and he takes a step back, reaching for you, for support. "Holy fuck. We won. It hadn't sunk in yet."

You feel your eyes sting slightly. It'll be difficult to keep the Empire—no, the Republic together. But the worst part is over, and all of a sudden the relief flooding your pan is dizzying. You hold on to Karkat, to your friend, lover, and bane of your existence, to the crazy bastard who did the impossible, and before you realize it you're laughing as you've never done before, not even as a wiggler. You feel light, as if you'd been among the trolls who'd shed their chains tonight.

"Fuck, KK. We sure did."

Above you, the stars twinkle. Below you, the earth is slowly starting to claim the remains of the Empire.

**Author's Note:**

> ETA: The premise of this fic, as well as a quote from it, was inadvertently inspired by one of 3d-gla22e2's comics on Tumblr, which I only realised almost a week after posting this. Accidental plagiarism aside, I encourage you to check out their works because they're awesome.
> 
> Whew... Is everything I finish always written in twenty-four hours?
> 
> I'm not actually sure about the details of this AU—it obviously takes place right after the Empress has been killed, but I didn't think a lot about it beyond that. I do love the idea of Karkat finishing what his ancestor started, and I'm a sucker for successful rebellions.
> 
> Despite the anxiety I feel every time I post something, I enjoyed writing this a lot! Solkat is quickly becoming one of my favourite things in the entire world (perhaps that's a bit of a hyperbole, but I adore them), and Sollux is always fun to write about.
> 
> Anyway, I don't want the end notes to be longer than the fic itself, so I'm going to stop here. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time a Solkat thought doesn't let me think about anything else until I write it.


End file.
